Ban stands in support of Lebenon

UNITED NATIONS, March 27 (UPI) -- Members of the political environment in Lebanon need to coordinate around the nation's president in the interest of stability, the U.N. secretary-general said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati resigned last week following disputes over national elections and internal differences over security. His resignation comes as members of the international community express concern that Syria's civil war may spill over the border.

U.N. Security General Ban Ki-moon spoke by phone with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman to express support for the country's stability. Ban called on the international community to do more to help Lebanon cope with the influx of refugees.

"He hoped that all parties in Lebanon would engage responsibly with the president and work together through dialogue to find a way forward in the national interest," Ban's spokesman said.

Members of the Arab League seated Syrian National Council leader Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib at its Doha conference this week. Suleiman said the country had a strict policy of distancing itself from the Syrian crisis, The Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon reports.

Lebanese forces deployed to the northern border to response to conflict between pro- and anti-Syrian fighters in the area. March marks eight years since Lebanon's Cedar Revolution, which broke Syria's grip over Lebanon's political affairs.

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